×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Wednesday
10
Dec 2025
weather symbol
Athens 12°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> Culture

What were the names of the months in Ancient Greece?

Each region had its own calendar

Newsroom November 25 10:33

Many ancient civilisations had their own calendrical systems. Of these, the Greek calendar is most likely the most confusing. The Greek Calendar is much like ancient Greece itself. It shared a certain basic similarity from region to region, but each city-state kept its own version. All the Greek calendars were lunisolar (based on the sun and moon) and shared the same basic features of the other lunisolar calendars: twelve months, with a periodic intercalation of a thirteenth.
The Athenian calendar is the best known and most intensively studied. The Athenian months were named Hekatombion, Metageitnion, Boedromion, Pyanepsion, Maimakterion, Poseidon, Gamelion, Anthesterion, Elaphebolion, Munychion, Thargelion, and Skirophorion. The intercalary month usually came after Poseidon and was called the second Poseidon. Hekatombion, and hence the beginning of the year, fell in the summer. Other Greek regions started their year at different times (e.g., Sparta, Macedonia in fall, Delos in winter).

For the historian inclined towards tidy orderliness, the regrettable fact is that the Athenians were simply unwilling to stick to a completely regular calendar, which makes reconstruction difficult. Their irregularity was not from a lack of astronomical knowledge. In 432 BCE, the Athenian astronomer Meton instituted his 19-year cycle, fixing regular intercalations (whether Meton got this cycle from Babylonia or discovered it himself is not known). From that point, a small group of Greek astronomers used the Metonic cycle in their calculations, but this should be regarded as an astronomer’s ideal calendar. Abundant epigraphical evidence demonstrates that in the civil calendar, while the archons inserted approximately the correct number of intercalary months over the long term, the specific corrections were somewhat arbitrary, as the archons saw fit. This irregularity doesn’t really affect the long-term workings of the calendar, but it does make things very confusing when trying to establish a precise date for an event.

source polysyllabic.com

>Related articles

UNIC Athens law school approved — Two other private university law schools rejected

Athens without Taxis again today, Thursday

72-hour severe weather with heavy rain and thunderstorms: Which areas will be affected

also read

280 new vehicles added to the Greek police force (photos)

Shocking photo of old woman in Euboea fires on cover of Time magazine

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#ancient greece#athens#calendar
> More Culture

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

The Hellenic Competition Commission maps the food market

December 10, 2025

Traveling to the US becomes more difficult: Tourists from 42 countries – including Greece – will need to show a five-year social media history to enter the country

December 10, 2025

The battle for Vouliagmeni Beach: Who are the 4 strong contenders, preferred investor expected in early 2026

December 10, 2025

Amphipolis: The polychromy of the Kasta Tumulus comes back to life with the help of research and technology – When it will open to the public

December 10, 2025

Seven clinics in Greece received sperm from the Danish donor carrying the cancer gene

December 10, 2025

Dead next to the garbage: The truth about the horror of occupied Athens

December 10, 2025

Man who attacked Ariana Grande thrown out of Lady Gaga concert

December 10, 2025

Outbursts during the briefing of ND MPs on farmers – “If checks weren’t conducted, we would have lost the funds,” said Tsiaras

December 10, 2025
All News

> Politics

Outbursts during the briefing of ND MPs on farmers – “If checks weren’t conducted, we would have lost the funds,” said Tsiaras

The session lasted 4.5 hours – “You are mocking us,” shouted Arabatzi at the head of OPEKEPE – “Do we have a crisis management strategy? Because I don’t see one,” said Voridis – “All our people are in the roadblocks,” said Zetta Makri – Criticism even over the subordination of OPEKEPE to AADE

December 10, 2025

Voridis: The prosecutor said the obvious about the blockades, the farmers should sit at the table of dialogue

December 10, 2025

Mitsotakis: The disability card allows citizens with disabilities to use all public transport for free

December 10, 2025

From Varoufakis’s “wow” to Dijsselbloem and Schäuble who wanted Grexit, to Pierrakakis as candidate for Eurogroup president

December 10, 2025

Bloomberg: A high-symbolism test for Greece as Pierrakakis fights for the Eurogroup presidency

December 10, 2025
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2025 Πρώτο Θέμα